TONY, ANNA, AND TINA
Tony sat up and stretched. He felt very weak but the fever had passed.
The day was young. Nobody stirred in the streets of Pompeii. It was too
early for the gates to open.
Tony arose. "Come," he said to his dog. "Let us go. We can crawl through
the fence. We shall have breakfast. Then, I know what I shall do."
It was all so simple. It had come to him quite suddenly. He must be a
thief no longer! He must take Tina back to Anna. Tina was Anna's pet.
He bought some food for the dog. But Tony himself could not eat. His
heart ached. He was going to lose his dear little friend.
But it was the only thing to do. He saw that now. He shuddered as he
recalled his horrible dream. Why, perhaps if he had been a truthful
boy the ancient people might have believed him!
If they had believed him, think how many lives could have been saved!
He suddenly laughed aloud.
"It was, after all, only a dream," he reminded himself. "But I shall
always remember how terrible it is not to be believed!"
All morning he walked. Several times he would have liked to stop, for
his head felt curiously light and his legs trembled. But he was going
to bring Tina back to Anna. He could not be happy until he had done
that!
He approached Anna's house. It looked so new and shiny. The flowers and
trees made a pretty frame for it. How different from the ugly houses
in the poor section of Naples where he lived.
It would be pleasant to wake up in the morning and smell the fields
and the Bay. Not the horrible odors of narrow streets. Dust and dirt
and cooking things!
[Illustration: TONY TRIED TO EXPLAIN EVERYTHING]
He must go bravely to the front door and ring the bell. He must confess
to Anna's father all that he had done. He was ready to take his
punishment like a brave soldier of Italy!
"Good-day."
The front door opened. Anna's mother stood there with Anna close
beside her.
When Anna caught sight of her pet, she cried out, "Niki! Oh, I thought
you were lost! I thought the naughty boy had stolen you! Come to me,
Niki!"
She held out her arms. But Tony drew Tina away from her. Why did his
throat feel so full and queer? Why did his nose tickle and his eyes
blur with tears?
No! No! He could not give up his Tina! Anna had everything and he had
only this little dog! It was not fair.
He planted his poor, wobbly legs as sturdily as he could. His dark eyes
flashed at the little girl.
"Do not touch her!" he cried. "She bites!"
Anna shrank back, afraid.
"She is a bad dog!" continued Tony. "It is not safe for you to keep
her. She has bitten me."
The mother went forward and gently touched Tony's sleeve.
"Where has the dog bitten you, my poor boy?" she inquired.
"Er--on my back!" lied Tony.
"Turn around and let me see," said the good woman.
But Tony did not turn around. Instead, he fell upon his knees and
clutched the skirt of Anna's mother.
"I have lied again! Oh, forgive me!" he sobbed. "What I just said
was not true. Tina does not bite. She is the gentlest little dog
that ever lived. And I am the greatest liar!"
He was sobbing so that the woman could hardly understand him. He
tried hard to explain everything that had happened to him. But he
felt weak and could barely talk.
Anna's mother raised him to his feet and led him to a bedroom. Here she
undressed him and prepared a bath.
At first this frightened Tony. There were no bathrooms in the house
where he had lived! But somehow, he felt that this kind woman would not
hurt him. He allowed her to bathe him and put him to bed.
He soon found himself tucked between clean, cool sheets. The woman was
offering him something to drink. His eyes were closing. Then he was
asleep.
When he awoke it was late afternoon. The window shades were drawn and
the room was fairly dark.
Tony lay gazing up at the smooth, white ceiling. He felt well and strong
now. He thought that he loved the mother of Anna better than anyone he
had ever known. Yes, better even than Tina!
How could he have lied to Anna again? After promising himself that he
would change. After that terrible dream! Oh, surely that would be his
last lie! Surely!
As he lay with his thoughts, the door slowly opened. Anna peeped in.
She held Tina in her arms. When she saw Tony's eyes open, she came into
the room.
"I thought you would like to have Niki," she said.
She approached his bed. Tony held out his arms for the dog.
"Her name is not Niki. It is Tina," he said.
The little girl smiled.
"It is Niki," she repeated.
"Tina!" said Tony.
"Niki!" said Anna.
She was laughing now. So was Tony.
"Very well," he said. "Let us call her 'Fido.'"
"Fido" is taken from an Italian word meaning "faithful."
So Anna put "Tina-Niki-Fido" into Tony's arms and sat down beside him.
"Papa says you are to stay here with us," she said.
[Illustration: TONY, ANNA, AND TINA-NIKI-FIDO]
Tony shot up in bed. A look of fear came over his face.
"But your papa will discipline me!" he exclaimed.
"No! No!" said Anna. "He says that you must not be afraid of him.
Discipline does not hurt. It will make you happy to grow up good."
Tony's eyes grew wide. So Anna's father, with the deep voice, wanted to
make him happy!
"Papa has just been to see the Marionette Man," went on Anna. "He told
him all about you, poor little boy!"
"And will I have to go back to Guido?" asked Tony.
"No, never," replied Anna. "You are to live with us, and Papa says you
shall join the Balilla."
Join the Balilla! Live in Anna's pretty house! Never again be parted
from his beloved Tina! Oh, it was almost too good to be true!
"But your father will punish me," he said, suddenly. He could not seem
to forget the gentleman's severe words.
"No, no," said Anna. "He says he thinks you have been punished enough.
He thinks you will obey now and never lie again. Will you promise, Tony?"
Tony hung his head. "I promise," he said.
"Papa always wanted a little boy of his own," continued Anna. "He will
be so proud to have you march with the boys of Italy. And I ... I would
like a brother."
"Have you never had a brother?" asked Tony.
"No," she answered, solemnly. "But I once had a monkey!"
* * * * *
So Tony remained with Anna. He joined the Balilla and he never lied or
stole again.
Well, _almost_ never. At first Anna's father had to talk with him very
seriously to make him understand the beauty of truth.
When Anna grew a little older, she joined the "Piccole Italiane," the
girls' legion.
Tina-Niki-Fido did not join anything. At least, I do not think she did.
However, if there is a "Bone-and-Biscuit Dog Scouts" in Italy, you may
be sure she became one.
She now belonged to both Tony and Anna. Still, it was Tony who cared
for her, fed her, and slept with her.
You see, between Tony and Tina it had been love at first sight!
THE END
PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY
Amalfi ä mäl´f[=e]
Avanti ä vänt´[=e]
Balilla b[)a]l l[=e]´l[=a]
Bella signorina b[)e]l´[.a] s[=e]´ny[+o] r[=e]´nä
Benito Mussolini b[)e]n [=e]´t[=o] m[=oo]s´s[+o] l[=e]´n[=e]
Campanile k[)a]m´p[.a] n[)i]l
Cimabue ch[=e]´mä b[=oo]´[=a]
Colosseum k[)o]l´[)o] s[=e]´[)u]m
Dante d[)a]n´t[+e]
Dio mio d[=e]´[=o] m[=e]´[=o]
Doge d[=o]j
Felicissima notte f[=a] l[=e] ch[=e]´s[+e] m[.a] n[=o]´t[)e]
Fontana Trevi f[)o]n tä´nä tr[)e]´v[=e]
Genoa j[)e]n´[+o] [.a]
Giotto jôt´t[=o]
Giuseppe Verdi j[=oo] s[)e]p´p[=a] vâr´d[=e]
Grazie gr[.a]tz´i [)e]
Il Duce [=el] d[=oo]´ch[=a]
Lucullus l[+u] k[)u]l´[)u]s
Mia m[=e]´[.a]
Milan m[)i] l[)a]n´
Niki n[=e]´k[=e]
Palazzo San Giorgio p[)a]l ätz´[=o] sän j[+o]r´jy[=o]
Piccole Italiane p[=e]´c[=o] l[)e] [)i] täl [)i] än´[)e]
Stromboli str[+o]m´b[+o] l[+e]
Tina t[=e]´nä
Torrone tôr r[=o]´n[)e]
Viva Italia v[=e]´vä [+e] täl´yä
Transcriber's Notes:
1. Passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_.
2. The list of illustrations with their page numbers have been added
after the table of contents.
3. Images have been moved from the middle of a paragraph to the closest
paragraph break.
4. In this etext, a letter with a diacritical mark is enclosed within
square brackets. For example, diacritical marks for letter 'e' are shown
below:
[)e] represents 'letter e with breve above'
[=e] 'letter e with macron above'
[+e] 'letter e with up tack above'
Similar representation is used for vowels other than 'e'. The following
two also appear within this etext:
[.a] represents 'letter a with dot above'
[=oo] 'letters oo with combined macron above'
End of Project Gutenberg's Little Tony of Italy, by Madeline Brandeis